AMCD move seems shakier

Commissioners question cost of Anastasia Mosquito Control District's proposed building

ST. AUGUSTINE BEACH -- One Anastasia Mosquito Control District commissioner said Thursday that moving the organization's base station to State Road 16 is too expensive and unnecessary, while two others seriously questioned the project's multimillion-dollar cost and proposed design.

One possible conclusion: That support for this project, planned since 2005, is eroding.

Jose Perez, an architect with PQH Architects Inc. of Jacksonville, tried Thursday evening to show the board all the cost-saving and green-building measures that would go into the final design of the headquarters complex.

"If you are going to build something, this is the time. Construction prices are 15 to 20 percent lower now," Perez said.

The basic complex -- including offices, labs, pesticide facility, garages -- was priced around $2.7 million but with green building and technology would rise to $3.2 million.

"It will be $100 per square foot finished," he said.

But Commissioner Jeanne Moeller said the professional fees PQH quoted seemed artificially low and should be 20 percent to 40 percent higher.

"I have 20 questions about (the design of) this property," Moeller said. "I don't think this is going to fly. I won't vote for a $5 million building."

She was joined by Chairwoman Janice Bequette who said she was "not getting the sense" that the design would be adequate.

Stout supporters of the new facility were board members Col. Ron Radford and Vivian Browning.

Browning said, "There are obvious problems here. If we're going to service the county we need a central location."

She added that the current Old Beach Road base station isn't able to be expanded, is too close to the ocean in case of a hurricane, isn't compliant with Americans with Disabilities Act and remains unsafe for surrounding homeowners should a chemical spill, fire or explosion occur.

In addition, Mosquito Control employees wouldn't be able to get to work during or even after a hurricane, endangering public health because storms are often followed by intense mosquito blooms.

Commissioner John Sundeman always opposed moving.

He pointed to an audit report released Thursday by St. Johns County Administrator Michael Wanchick saying that a "cost-benefit analysis" should be completed before moving the headquarters.

"Isn't that peculiar?" Sundeman asked with some added irony. "That's what I've been saying all along. (This project) doesn't make sense at all."

The commission's discussion came only hours after district and county administrators and their attorneys met for a "conflict resolution" hearing at the district offices.

Negotiators included Priscilla Greene, the district's assistant director, and Douglas Wycoff, the board's attorney. Also there were Wanchick, County Attorney Patrick McCormack and Assistant County Administrator Darrell Locklear.

McCormack said the commission's intent was to "put it back (on the agenda) at the first reasonable time," which he said would be Nov. 20.

Wanchick said, "We held town meetings all over the county. One of your own commissioners complained that the district was being run inefficiently. The commission wanted to study that."

The commission's meeting on Tuesday lists the presentation as Agenda Item 5.

The district is angry the county had violated its "memorandum of understanding" that both signed after the district gave the county seven of its 25 acres.

On that property, the county built a modern Emergency Operations Center.

In return, the county was to build a paved road to the site, install water lines, drainage system, and perform survey work, all which it did.

But one provision, recommending zoning approval for the district's proposed new headquarters on that property, was stymied when Sundeman said at a Town Hall meeting that the district was being run inefficiently.

Wyckoff said, "It's the district's legal position that whatever's in that (efficiency) study is wholly unrelated to the zoning."